Phils: This Is A Deserving Dude Some Believe Lenny Should Be Named Mvp Over Bonds

Sometime next month, tucked among the bills and the letters and the advertising circulars, 28 members of the Baseball Writers Association of America - two from each franchise city - will find in their mailbox a significant, business-sized envelope.

Inside will be a piece of paper with 10 blank lines. It is a ballot to choose the National League's Most Valuable Player to be filled out, signed and returned by the end of the regular season.

There has been, over the years, a tendency for the voters to lean toward the player with the most glittery statistics in the high-profile categories: home runs, RBI, batting average. That explains, for example, why Andre Dawson was voted MVP in 1987 even though the Cubs finished last.

There have been a few exceptions to that rule. The next year, for example, Kirk Gibson had so-so numbers for the Dodgers, but was named MVP anyway

because of the intangible contributions he was presumed to have made to an overachieving team.

All of which led to a simple question as the Phillies took a break yesterday and prepared to return to action against Montreal tonight at Veterans Stadium:

How much support will Phillies centerfielder Lenny Dykstra get when the results of the voting are announced after the World Series?

After all, he doesn't hit a lot of home runs. As a leadoff batter, he isn't going to drive in many. His .304 batting average is good, but not among the league's Top 10. His only eye-popping statistical achievement is 103 runs scored, with a chance to become the first player since Ted Williams in 1949 to reach 150. But that's a stat that often is overlooked.

And yet, there remains a sense that Dykstra should get serious consideration. It is, after all, the Most Valuable Player award. And how many players are more valuable to their teams than Dykstra is to the Phillies?

A random survey of the Phillies' clubhouse, in which uniformed personnel were given an imaginary MVP ballot, revealed overwhelming support. While hardly objective, several Phillies even picked him ahead of San Francisco's Barry Bonds, as close to a lock to win for the third time in four years as there can be with nearly two months left in the season.

"I'd take Dude," outfielder Pete Incaviglia said. "There's no doubt. Nobody has meant more to his team than that guy. The things he does are incredible.